The 2019 Australian Open is coming to a close with only four players remaining. Let’s take a look at their chances to lift the trophy at Melbourne Park.

Australian Open 2019 Main Contenders

Novak Djokovic

Six-time champion Novak Djokovic is leading the field at the Australian Open and is the undeniable favorite to win the title. The world No.1 is one of the most successful players in the Open Era with six titles in 14 appearances at Melbourne Park. From the four players remaining, Djokovic is the only one with odds below even money on the outright at 1.86 with Pinnacle. The 31-year-old Serbian also won the past two Grand Slam titles – at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open – and is currently riding a 19-match winning streak at majors.

Rafael Nadal is the other main contender still in action at Melbourne. The 17-time Grand Slam champion is playing in his first tournament since pulling out of the U.S. Open semifinal in September and also withdrew from the Brisbane International earlier this month. Nevertheless, Nadal said he was confident that he would be at 100 percent for the Australian Open 2019 and the concerns over his physical condition seem to have dissipated. The world No.2 has played some of his best tennis at this year’s tournament and has yet to drop a set in Melbourne. The sportsbooks are well aware of Nadal’s impressive run with Betfair offering 2.40 for the Spaniard to win his second Australian Open title.

Rising Star

Stefanos Tsitsipas enjoyed a breakthrough 2018 season, climbing from No.91 in the ATP rankings to No.15. The 20-year-old won his maiden ATP Tour title in Stockholm, the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan and reached his first Masters 1000 finale in Toronto. After an incredible campaign in 2018, Tsitsipas revealed that reaching the semifinals of a Grand Slam was one of his goals for the new season.

It only took 22 days for Stefanos to reach his goal and rewrite history at Melbourne Park. Tsitsipas became the first Greek to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam and the youngest man to make the last four at the Australian Open since Andy Roddick in 2003. However, it won’t be easy for Stefanos to extend his run in Melbourne. The Greek will next face Rafael Nadal with the Spaniard being the big favorite at 1.14 with Bet365. Tsitsipas might even take a set from Nadal but his fairytale run probably will come to an end on this match. Pinnacle only offers 1.73 for Stefanos to cover the +2.5 Set Handicap, which is not enough for us to find valuable.

Dark Horse

Lucas Pouille has been the true “dark horse” at this tournament. The 24-year-old arrived in Melbourne after losing all his three singles matches for France in the Hopman Cup before a first-round defeat against Andrey Rublev at the Sydney International. Adding to this, Lucas had also lost in the opening round in all his five appearances at the Australian Open.

Despite Pouille’s terrible record at Melbourne Park, the world No.31 defeated Milos Raonic in four sets to become the first Frenchman to reach the Australian Open semifinals since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2010. Pouille returns to action this Saturday against Novak Djokovic for a place in the finale in a match where the Serbian should get a comfortable win with the -7.5 spread at 1.87 at Pinnacleas an interesting line.

Australian Open 2019 Outright Betting

As mentioned above, Djokovic and Nadal should make it into the finale of the Australian Open 2019. This is one of the biggest rivalries of all time with 52 previous meeting between them. Djokovic leads 27-25 on the head-to-head and won 18 of their previous 25 encounters on hard court. On the other hand, the Serbian superstar also emerged victoriously in their previous encounter at the Australian Open in 2012. For all these reasons, placing a bet on Djokovic’s outright at 1.86 with Pinnacle is the most interesting line to take on this tournament.

Tennis is a unique sport, where the conditions can drastically change from week to week. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the tennis structure. This includes the different tennis court surfaces, tournament levels, and the number of points involved.

The Three Main Tennis Surfaces

Clay is Rafael Nadal’s favorite surface

There are three main tennis court surfaces in general: Hard Courts, Clay Courts, and Grass Courts.

Known as the easiest courts to play tennis, the Hard Courts provide a regular bounce to the players. Hard Courts are typically made of asphalt or concrete that is sealed with an acrylic material. The game pace is usually rated as medium on this surface. However, it might vary from tournament to tournament according to the construction method used.

The Clay Courts require a very specific game, as the surface allows players to slide, which requires proper technique. In general, this surface is rated as the slowest one, with the ball bouncing higher and more irregularly.

In the past, Grass was the most common surface on tour but nowadays, this surface is used less. Grass provides very fast game conditions with the ball bouncing extremely low. However, the average speed on this surface has decreased over the years in an attempt to balance the pace on the different tennis court surfaces.

There is always the possibility for the matches to be played Indoors, which clearly increases the pace. Some tournaments are completely played Indoors while others have a roof in the center court that can be closed due to adverse weather conditions, like rain or extreme heat for example.

Different Series of Tennis Tournaments

Similar to other sports, tennis also has different levels according to the players’ ranking.
Our focus will be on the main tournaments, which are part of the ATP World Tour.

There are four main categories: ATP 250, ATP 500, ATP 1000, and Grand Slam. The champion wins the amount of points indicated by the tournament’s category, while on Grand Slams, the winner earns 2000 points. However, the champion is not the only one who wins points as you can see in the following tables.

Besides these four categories, there is also one special event that takes place at the end of the year, the ATP World Tour Finals. This tournament is comprised of the eight best players of the season and is played on Indoor Hard Court, with the champion winning 1500 points.

ATP 1000 and Grand Slams – Main Tennis Court Surfaces

To conclude, let’s take a closer look at the two main tournament categories – ATP 1000 and the Grand Slam – as well as their tennis court surfaces.

When comparing singles tennis with a team sport, the main difference relies on the fact that everything is dependent on only one player. For this reason, it becomes even more important to know the player apart from his technical skills. In this article we’ll explore two key aspects to be taken into consideration when analyzing a potential tennis bet – tennis motivation and mental strength.

Importance of Tennis Motivation

As it was mentioned in a previous article regarding the different tournament categories, there are tournaments which are more important than others, therefore, it’s also expectable to see players more motivated for the major competitions.

When compared to other sports, tennis has one of the longest seasons overall. With action from January to late November, it is humanly impossible to perform at their best week after week. For that reason, tennis players make a thorough preparation of their season schedule in order to present themselves at their best for the big competitions. Before a major tournament, ATP 1000, or Grand Slam, it’s not unusual to see the main players leaving the competition early.

Besides the effects of big tournaments, there are also two other important aspects to keep in mind concerning tennis motivation. The first one is related to the players competing in their home country, something that usually raises their motivation and makes them more dangerous. The second one concerns the player’s past results in that competition, something that can also be a crucial point when trying to determine the player’s motivation.

Tennis Motivation – Key Aspects

Before a Big Competition

Playing in Home Country

Past Results

Importance of Mental Strength

When looking to a tennis match, it’s possible to find some points which are more important than others due to the tennis scoring system, known as Pressure Points. These points are usually the difference between winning and losing a match. It’s what makes mental strength such an important issue.

When analyzing a match, there are three main situations where is possible to evaluate the player’s mental strengths. We are talking about % Break Points Saved, % Break Points Converted, and % Tie Breaks Winning Record.

Tennis is all about mental awareness and being able to perform at the best level when it matters. Remember, at the end of the day it doesn’t matter how fast a player served or how good his shots were. It’s all about the way he performed under pressure.

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